


There is a Light That Never Goes Out

by xama



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies), Thor: Ragnarok - Fandom
Genre: Gen, Loki Has Issues, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Role Reversal, Urban Magic, but not too many issues ya dig, immediately post-Avengers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-25 23:02:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18711460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xama/pseuds/xama
Summary: Loki Silvertongue, crack stockbroker, comes home to an unexpected and uninvited guest.En Dwi Gast has had a long week, and probably a long couple of years, he lost count, but hey no more purple, his future was already looking up!





	There is a Light That Never Goes Out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rudluff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudluff/gifts).



For Loki Silvertongue, it was just another boring day – shower, get dressed, take his 3 million dollar car to work, work himself to the bone as a wealthy stockbroker on Wallstreet, go to a wild sex party that would be hosted by Tony Stark only if Loki was lucky. Loki didn’t particularly like Tony Stark, of course, but he had to give it to the man, he knew how to throw a sex party.

  
Closing the door to his car, Loki heaved a sigh – a monotonous life, not befitting one of his station. Truly Thor lucked out – mother and father adored him, he was the heir, he was athletic, and he didn’t need a sex party to be able to meet people. Loki didn’t strictly need one either, actually, being rich and relatively handsome in a gaunt, malnourished, Anglo-Saxon kind of way didn’t hurt. Still, Thor got the better deal by far.  
Yes, Loki mused, stretching his feet in their custom-made seal-leather loafers as his retinas were scanned by the state-of-the-art security system at Stark Manor (the newly-built tower was undergoing repairs, some sort of catastrophic battle between the forces of good and evil?) he was truly underprivileged, society’s underdog.

  
“...Silvertongue? Loki, what are you doing here?” Almost two rooms in and only Stark and a weary-looking blond man in some kind of armored blue outfit, clearly Loki was here early, but not so early as to be gauche.  
Stark was also looking rather weary, much more exhausted than Loki was used to. He had heard about Stark’s semi-recent turn-around from playboy layabout to responsible CEO, from a monger of death to a superhero. And then putting his secretary in his place as CEO on the sly. Probably planning on going into politics. “Hello Stark, I am here for the night’s festivities, as usual.”

  
Stark looked surprised – interesting, Loki really only associated with Stark for the parties, and Stark knew it. “Loki, I haven’t hosted one of those parties in years.”

  
Loki nodded, not really sure what the issue was. True, it was odd for Stark not to host a party for such an extended period of time, but he’d had a presumably traumatic experience and moved house. Loki was not unreasonable, he himself had had a self-imposed dry spell of about three decades after the whole adoption-self-hate fiasco, it happened from time to time.

  
Stark looked a little bit flabbergasted. “Loki – I don’t do that anymore.” Ah, politics for sure then.  
“My apologies then, Stark, I’ll be going.”

  
“Uh, sure. Don’t hit any whales on your way home, Loki.”

  
Just as Loki turned to head back to his car he heard it. “EXCUSE ME, SIR STARK? I FEAR I DO NOT KNOW HOW TO OPEN THIS BOTTLE OF ALE!” Of course, Thor. Stark turned to yell something back, and Loki took the opportunity and popped back to his car. Drastic times call for drastic measures after all. Almost 50 years of life in Midgard, and Loki knew how to stay hidden, and how to cope with their inventions. He cast the usual spell on the Lamborghini, making it look like he was driving it when he really just teleported it and himself home. Much easier than trying to work the thing, he’d learned his lesson with the Rolls Royce in 1974. The illusion would make its way home and then happily dissipate, as was its wont. Loki’s illusion tailor-made for Heimdall was currently relaxing in a bar on Know-Where. Loki would have to do something soon, if Heimdall’s overactive eyes were on Midgard.

  
Focusing on the now, Stark was a bust and was clearly going towards a career in politics, possibly trying to unite the realm if he was meeting with representatives from the other Nine. Midgard, a united realm – truly an odd concept. The only planet that really made sense, with hundreds of squabbling factions that all hated each-other and themselves. Perfect, really, for Loki to do what he did best.

  
Have fun. Stark was by no means the only reliable destination for that sort of thing, but Loki was no longer “feeling it” after the near run-in with Thor. He decided he’d have a quiet night – get take-out, go home, perhaps watch a movie or read a book.  
The problem was, as he set down his work suitcase, he saw that somebody was on his couch.

Interesting.

“Hello?”  
“Hey, hi, glad you could make it! Please, uh, have a seat anywhere you like.” Curious.

  
Loki went for a closer look. An attractive man, odd make-up, old but in a way that suited him. And seemingly comfortable telling Loki to take a seat in his own sitting room. Loki complied.

  
“So uh, how’s life?”

  
“Satisfactory, if a bit dull. By the way, who are you?” Loki asked, in his opinion judiciously.

  
“Oh, do you not know? I uh, figured it’d be on those screens that everyone here keeps looking at, ‘teevee’ I think you call it, great stuff. You know uh, back home all we have are gladiatorial tournaments – that green guy would probably be great there…”

  
“I don’t generally watch television, I prefer entertainment that’s more intellectual in nature, although occasionally they show a program entitled ‘WWE’ that I enjoy.” He also watched the Nightly Business report, but that wasn’t for entertainment so much as it was a way of seeing his own work. The fate of the entire realm rested on corporations, and Loki had many of them twisted around his little finger. It may not have been the kind of authority someone like Thor would understand, but among these mortals with their ‘Bugattis’ and ‘McMansions’, Loki was king.

  
“Uh well, I sort of led an ‘Alien Invasion’...” At those words, the man wiggled the pointer and middle fingers on both of his hands. “...into the heart of this city, but I was sort of uh, defeated. Badly.”

“Oh, so that's what that was. I wondered why the mortals were acting so skittish today. But, more pressingly, what are you doing in my house?”

“Oh uh, resting at the moment, admiring the décor. Love what you've done with the place, very 'you'.”

Loki would admit that he was intrigued. This man was clearly used to playing people like fiddles, and while Loki was nobody's instrument, he did enjoy a good concert. “Well, thank you; I can't say I've ever had a home-invader with such refined tastes before. What did you say your name was, again?”

The man scratched his nose at this, “'En Dwi Gast' ring any bells?”

Loki blinked. “The individual who attempted to steal Gugnir from Grandfather Bor, along with his wife, and ended up getting away with only the majority of his treasury?”

“Ah, yeah, right, that. Well, I'm not En Dwi Gast then. My name is, uh, call me Jeff.” Interesting.

“Well Jeff, may I ask why, out of all the penthouse apartments in New York City, you chose to walk into mine?”

“Oh, no real reason. Did you know that it's nearly impossible to find this place, by the way? Very nice bit of magic, very nice.”

From what Loki had heard he surmised exactly what 'Jeff' needed. “If it's impossible to find, then how are you here?”

“Ah ah ah, I said 'nearly' impossible!” Jeff lifted his finger in a dramatic motion. “They don't call me 'Grandmaster' for nothing, you know. And I do have an, uh, incredible source of power.” He waggled his fingers and eyebrows at this.

“If your source of power is that incredible, then why are you here, and not lording it over the Midgardians in some lavish palace?”

‘Jeff’, or rather En Dwi Gast, looked a bit put-out. “Ah, I wasn’t exactly trying to win. Invading a planet like that, not really my style. Plus, I only got full control of my power at the end. At least I got this cool blue box out of it, right?” He held up a glowing, slightly translucent blue box.

“It matches your makeup,” pointed out Loki, astutely. He recognized it, actually; the Tesseract, Odin had lost it somewhere on Midgard a few centuries ago. He claimed that it was there for safe-keeping, but who would put something on Midgard if they wanted it kept safe? Had this Grandmaster actually absconded with it along with the other artifacts out of the Treasury? It was not the first lie Odin had told for the so-called “honor” of his family, and his realm.

“Dare I ask why you invaded, if it isn’t your style?”

The Grandmaster looked shifty again, “Well uh. Let bygones be bygones, that’s what I always say! Hey, does this ‘teevee’ get satellite? Gotta love those Mexican dramas.”  
Loki nodded. “It is remarkably simple to capture the signal.” He waved his hand and the TV turned on, transmitting a signal that must have come from across the globe. Some show about a samurai sleeping in a firehouse? “But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”

“Ah well, there’s this purple guy. Ugly as a dog. Uh, one of those really... wrinkley ones. Long story, could call him an old lover, wanted me to call him ‘daddy’.” Grandmaster grimaced. “What kind of a fetish is that? Whatever, doesn’t matter, I got out of there. Had a funky mind control stone, got out of that too. I’m a free agent again, uh, might wanna go back to Sakaar at some point, maybe after his ‘interest’ dies down.” Grandmaster spread his arms magnanimously, “you can come too, of course. Gonna take a decade, maybe, but it’ll be worth the wait.”

Loki had no doubt, looking the man up and down. Although he had probably endured some form of torture, he didn’t look like he had. Unless he was actually young for his species, then the torture had aged him horribly. But he still looked good, and Loki wasn’t particular about age as long as the person was considered an adult by reasonable standards. 18 on most of Midgard, 400 on Asgard, and from what he could surmise, 69 on this ‘Sakaar’.

  
Loki could probably expel this man, but he saw no need to. He was interesting, and seemed as if he would throw sex parties that equaled or even surpassed Stark’s. Not to mention that if Asgard was going to have a closer relationship with Midgard, Loki would want to get the hell out of dodge, as they say. So having an older companion, who had enough power to control the Tesseract and who was the rightful ruler of some nice, low-key, out-of-the-way planet was perfect. And all he had to do to stay on this man’s good side was keep him in his already-enchanted apartment and entertain his television-related whims. And possibly fend off Stark’s band of warriors, if he ever tried to venture out of Loki’s apartment. No sweat.  
“Well, I feel I’ve been terribly rude. I have yet to properly introduce myself: my name is Loki Silvertongue, I am a stock broker. Would you like a beverage?”

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this half-finished in my drafts for a while, but Endgame got my brain juices going, and my friend recently started updating her MCU fic, so I felt inspired. I dedicate (and gifted) this fic to my sister, who beta'd it for me. This is a one-shot, and I really don't have any plans to continue it, just gotta say it. If it happens it happens, probably won't though.


End file.
